How To Remove Extremely Matted Hair

Black girl wondering how to detangle matted hair while wearing a red shirt with white stripes on the sleeves

Are you having difficulty detangling your matted hair despite trying everything? Don't take hold of your pair of scissors yet. You can detangle your hair no matter how severely matted it is.

But if you don't detangle your hair using the proper procedure and tools, the procedure volition take forever, cause scalp pain, and you could lose hair from the pulling.

Worse yet, yous may become so tired of struggling through the process that y'all end up chopping all your pilus off.

The practiced news is that this step-by-step guide will help you detangle your disordered curly hair successfully, proceed it healthy, and prevent matting in the future.

Table of Contents

i What Causes Matted Hair?
two How to Detangle Matted Hair Without Breakage
- 2.i Get together Your Supplies
three Set up Your Hair for Detangling
- 3.ane Wet it Down
4 Employ Conditioner to Your Tangled Hair
- four.one Let it sit
5 Commencement the Detangling Process
- 5.ane Loosen Up the Mats and Carve up Your Strands
6 Minimize Pain During the Detangling Process
7 Is Cut Necessary?
viii Dos and Don'ts of Detangling Matted Hair
- viii.1 Dos
- viii.two Don'ts
ix v All-time Detanglers for Disordered Hair
- nine.1 Shea Moisture'southward Raw Shea Butter Extra-Moisture Detangler
- 9.2 Aussie 3 Infinitesimal Miracle Moist Deep Conditioner
- ix.3 Kinky-Curly Knot Today Exit-In Conditioner/Detangler
- 9.4 Carol'southward Girl Black Vanilla Wet & Shine
- 9.5 Creme of Nature Pure Beloved Knot Away Leave-In Detangler
10 Preclude Disordered Pilus in the Hereafter
- 10.1 Related Manufactures

What Causes Matted Hair?

Pretty African American female fine curly hair wearing a tank top

Mats are tangles and knots on steroids – they form easily in curly pilus considering information technology'south more than prone to matting than other hair types. Individual hair strands often intertwine, quickly creating knots and mats.

Other causes include trapped hair strands, high porosity pilus (raised hair cuticles), and non protecting your pilus while sleeping.

How to Detangle Matted Hair Without Breakage

Cute black woman with afro textured hair wearing a beaded necklace, white t-shirt, sunglasses, and hoop earrings

If y'all're trying to retain length, and so yous should avoid unnecessary breakage at all costs.

To preserve your length, it is important that you don't grab knotted sections of hair and endeavour to unravel them haphazardly. Not simply will that be painful, only information technology volition also cause hair breakage, making your natural hair growth goals much harder to achieve.

Simply with the correct process, tools, and loads of patience, you can successfully untangle matted hair without breakage. Delight keep reading to learn how to detangle matted hair in 3 simple steps.

Gather Your Supplies

The tools and products y'all use to detangle matted hair are but as of import as the process itself. Beneath are the supplies y'all volition need.

Deep Moisturizing Conditioner and Leave-In – Moisturizing conditioners are a must-have in the detangling process. They provide much-needed hydration, slip, and strengthen your hair cuticles. The slip makes information technology easier to release the knotted sections and detangle your pilus.
Spray Bottle of Water or Shower H2o – You will need to wet your hair with water earlier working through the mats. Whether you choose to exercise it in the shower or use a spray bottle of h2o is up to y'all.
Detangling Comb or a Wide-molar comb – Y'all tin can't use just whatever comb when detangling. Instead, get for 1 with widely spaced teeth.
Clips for Sectioning – Separating your hair into smaller, manageable sections is an essential step in detangling. You will need the sectioning clips to hold and secure those sections. Parting and sectioning also help you clearly distinguish the areas you lot've worked on and the ones you haven't.

Prepare Your Pilus for Detangling

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With all your supplies set up, information technology's time to prepare your hair for the detangling process in 3 elementary steps.

Wet information technology Downward

Curly hair is best detangled while wet. Naturally, moisture hair becomes softer, more than flexible, and easier to comb through.

Although moisture hair is fragile, detangling dry hair tin can damage hair cuticles because of the hair's lack of elasticity and pliability. If you have ever attempted to detangle knots on dry hair, you don't need more disarming.

Starting time past wetting your pilus with absurd water in the shower, at the sink, or using a spray h2o bottle. For seriously matted hair, you lot may need to soak your hair in the h2o for a period of time to ensure it is wet, especially in the matted areas.

Use Conditioner to Your Tangled Pilus

Women with 4c hair type having a cup of coffee during an early summer morning

Don't attempt to detangle your hair yet. Water is of import, but it is not plenty to requite you the slip you need for detangling.

Then once the pilus is damp, apply a generous corporeality of moisturizing conditioner or detangler to coat your hair (e.g., hair detangling spray).

Apply the product from the ends of your damp pilus and piece of work it up to the roots.

If yous wish, it'southward okay to avert your roots and scalp. You lot should apply the conditioner or detangler about generously to your ends and to the areas of your hair that are matted.

Your ends are more prone to breakage than your mid-lengths and roots.

More moisture and conditioner help to ensure an easier detangling process, so saturate your pilus well. A good detangler or conditioner will enable your pilus strands to slip past each other and make it easier to remove loose strands, tangles, or knots.

Let it sit

At present that your pilus is clammy and conditioned, part and section your hair into at least four sections. This will make your pilus much easier to untangle.

You shouldn't exist combing your pilus at this point, and so department it with your fingers. Then secure each section with the sectioning clips.

Failure to department could lead to missed mats and breakage farther into the styling procedure. If you e'er need to stop detangling and come up back later because you are exhausted or for any other reason, it will exist easier to get dorsum to it without missing a beat.

One time yous've carefully sectioned and secured your conditioner-coated hair, permit the product sit in your hair for about ten to thirty minutes.

During this time, your hair will blot moisture, hydrate, and the mats will loosen up a bit.

Offset the Detangling Process

Black with a big smile wearing natural hair with severe tangles

Afterwards you've allowed your pilus to sit, information technology'southward ready for the detangling process. Permit's get direct into it.

Loosen Up the Mats and Separate Your Strands

You may want to get directly into pulling the mats apart, just we're not quite there however. The beginning rule is to be patient. Taking your time is vital and so that you lot don't farther damage your hair.

Finger Detangle One Section at a Time

Information technology can be overwhelming to deal with all of your hair at once, so we recommend taking a section at a fourth dimension and finger detangling from the ends to the roots.

Working in small sections makes the process more than manageable. You'll also be able to do a thorough job of detangling the mats. It takes some time, but it'll exist worth information technology in the end.

It is easier to commencement with fingers than starting with a comb immediately, especially with severely matted hair. This is because fingers tin feel the knots and tension better, which can reduce breakage.

Examine and Reapply Products

Spray more water and add detangler if whatsoever hair section dries out as yous detangle – this volition provide more slip and further help in detangling.

Break Out the Rummage

Once yous take washed your best with finger detangling, comb the section gently with a wide-tooth comb repeatedly. Be extremely gentle when yous get to a knotted expanse.

So, y'all can gently pull apart the knotted surface area with your fingers. Try not to force the knots out, as this can cause mechanical damage and breakage. You'll know yous're done with this footstep when your fingers can move with ease through your hair.

Twist and Secure

To avoid more tangling, twist and secure each section with a prune afterward you have detangled it to the best of your power. Motility to the next hair department merely afterwards you are completely washed with the current ane. Repeat the process until every section is done.

Note: Remember, shed hair strands cause matting, and then don't panic if you lot notice some strands falling to the floor. Though, you may want to differentiate between shedding and breakage. Shed hair will have a like length to the rest of your pilus, but broken hairs will exist shorter.

Minimize Pain During the Detangling Process

Lady wearing a pink shirt while taking a selfie with her mobile phone

Matted pilus tin can exist painful to detangle. Below are some of the ways y'all can minimize the hurting.

Part of minimizing pain when detangling is to utilise the correct tools. For case, you can utilise a wide-tooth comb, detangling brush, or tangle teezer. Such tools are specifically designed to help you detangle regularly and pair well with detangling products.
Avoid fine combs and brushes that aren't designed for detangling.
Hold the section of pilus you lot're detangling at the roots to prevent tension on the scalp.
Add together detangler as you detangle to add together more skid. This volition minimize hurting, equally the strands will exist able to slide past each other easier.

Is Cutting Necessary?

Ane year without washing & combing hair!

You don't have to rush for the scissors when you lot detect matted hair. Even in cases where the hair is then disordered that information technology begins to lock, it can nonetheless be detangled. If you don't believe united states, lookout this video of a stylist detangling hair that hasn't been combed in a year!

Dos and Don'ts of Detangling Matted Pilus

When information technology comes to detangling disordered hair, there's a correct way and a incorrect manner. Read below to find out the dos and don'ts of the detangling process for disordered hair.

Dos

Use a wide-tooth rummage and avoid fine-toothed combs at all costs.
While detangling, comb from ends to roots gently.
If your hair is more prone to tangling, detangle it before washing your hair.
Avoid whatsoever conditioner and other pilus care products that may go out your pilus dry.
Avert plastic bristles on curly hair.
Piece of work with small pilus sections at a time – part your hair into smaller, manageable sections.

Don'ts

Don't detangle hair while information technology'south dry. Instead, saturate it with cool water and moisturizing conditioner or a detangler first. Wet conditioned hair is softer and has more than sideslip to permit for easy combing.
Don't detangle matted hair when you have somewhere to be. Depending on how disordered your hair is, you may need to free up several hours to devote to the detangling process.

5 Best Detanglers for Matted Hair

Black women with 4c naturally curly hair that sunglasses, hoop earrings, a leather bracelet, beaded necklace, and a white t-shirt

We mentioned detanglers many different times in this commodity. This section is for you if you don't know where to find a good detangler for matted curly hair.

The best detanglers are the ones that have nourishing hair oils and provide tons of sideslip. Examples include shea butter, kokosnoot oil, Moroccan argan oil, olive oil, castor oil, and more.

Here, nosotros have compiled five of the best detanglers for disordered hair.

This detangler is formulated for 3A – 4C hair textures. Equally a moisturizing detangler, it provides sufficient slip to remove painful knots and tangles.

It's too meant to piece of work on both dry out and wet hair. To apply as a get out-in, utilise the product on moisture hair and work in small sections from the ends up to the roots until the hair is completely detangled.

Aussie 3 Minute Phenomenon Moist Deep Conditioner

This is one of the best conditioners for dry hair. Within just a few minutes, it restores the moisture and shine to your hair, just nearly of all, this product is super slippery, making it a cracking detangler.

To employ the product for detangling, utilise it to clean, wet hair and allow it sit for 3 minutes. Work through the tangles with your fingers and a wide-toothed comb, and then rinse the conditioner out.

Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner/Detangler

This is a bully conditioner specifically designed for naturally curly pilus as it strengthens pilus cuticles and provides skid to the hair strands.

Apply it to your hair, and run plenty water through your hair to distribute the production evenly (but don't rinse the production out). Then, rummage your hair, including the matted areas, to remove the knots.

Ballad's Daughter Blackness Vanilla Moisture & Polish

This conditioner is perfect for detangling seriously matted hair, and it works groovy on all hair types and textures.

In addition, information technology enhances the manageability of mats by providing good slippage. To use it, apply the creme on wet hair and detangle small sections one at a time. And so, use more product as needed as you detangle.

Creme of Nature Pure Honey Knot Away Leave-In Detangler

Hair needs enough wet to stay good for you and strong. This detangler is infused with dearest and natural oils to restore moisture to your pilus and remove knots with ease.

It also repairs split up ends and smoothens pilus cuticles making it easier to manage your hair during and after the detangling process.

Depending on your specific pilus type, y'all might need to endeavor out several detanglers to observe one that works best for you lot.

Forbid Matted Hair in the Time to come

Subsequently you accept successfully detangled your disordered pilus, information technology'southward a sure bet that you would exercise anything to avoid it in the future. Below are helpful tips and hair treatments for avoiding this problem in the future:

Detangle your hair often, particularly if it is prone to tangling (east.1000., tightly coiled hair).
Do poly peptide treatments as needed to repair damaged pilus cuticles.
When wearing hair extensions, avoid keeping them in longer than eight weeks.
Utilise a moisturizing leave-in conditioner during your hairstyling routine after washing to prevent knots as your pilus dries.
Wrap your hair up in a silk/satin bonnet or scarf every nighttime before bed. Utilise satin or silk pillowcases if you don't want to wear a bonnet or scarf.
Deep condition your hair frequently to go along it moisturized. Read this article to learn more than about the benefit of using deep conditioners.

Related Manufactures

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You can successfully detangle disordered curly hair with the techniques and products presented in this article. Recollect to always work in smaller, manageable sections to ensure you practice a thorough job.

If you get tired, come back subsequently and cease the job. Nosotros hope that this commodity gives yous the confidence and information you need to untangle severely disordered hair successfully.